Kate Middleton's love for white

The Duchess of Cambridge loves wearing white; is this a subconscious mission to keep the halo of her bridal glory shining?

BY Sarah Mower |
15 June 2011

Silk Grace trench coat, £345, lkbennett.com

Kate Middleton in ivory McQueen with Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall at the Trooping the Colour Photo: REX

The more she goes out, the more noticeable it is how the Duchess of Cambridge loves wearing white. I'm beginning to suspect it's either a subconscious mission to keep the halo of her bridal glory shining, or a deliberate image-making strategy on a level of sophistication that is taking us by surprise in a rookie royal. Either way, the Bride of the Year is wearing cream so often it's fast becoming a piece of international iconography, a historical style-marker of the order of the Queen Mother's floral prints or Shy Di's flouncy necklines, yet already so much more accomplished.

Let's count the ways. Catherine was wearing a white Reiss Nannette dress in November for her official engagement pictures. On her wedding day, she liked her Alexander McQueen ivory dress so much that she had another version made for evening. And she hasn't stopped: at Trooping the Colour last weekend, she wore another McQueen, a coat-dress from the spring pre-collection cut in the same "arched" technique Sarah Burton used in the wedding dress. And, of course, there was the pretty cream faux-tweed Joseph jacket and short chiffon Reiss dress at the Epsom Derby.

If you think about it, white is the traditional colour of the debutante at court, which appropriately works as an atavistic royal echo, too. Still, it hasn't really been worn in public, for day, in royal circles in living memory. As a colour which implies luxury and therefore a potential stirrer-up of that ingrained British post-Second World War disapproval of clothes which are "impractical", maybe it has also been disdained all these years. But Catherine has changed that, and the impact on other women is already visible, most obviously on those closest to home.

Ivory hunting is running rife through the royal in-laws. The Duchess of Cornwall, Zara Phillips, the Countess of Wessex, Sarah Chatto and Sophie Winkleman turned up to the Duke of Edinburgh's birthday in shades of white. The Duchess of Cornwall had ordered another ivory coat-dress ensemble to sit next to her step-daughter-in-law in the barouche on Saturday. Even little Lady Louise Windsor, the daughter of the Earl of Wessex, was dressed up in white to stand on the Buckingham Palace balcony again, a reprise of her bridesmaid's dress of April 29.

What's hitting anyone who prides herself in knowing what's going on in fashion is that white hasn't been a big summer story - at least, it wasn't until Catherine turned the tables. With the exception of Dolce & Gabbana's all-white summer collection, high fashion had nothing much to say about it - we'd been too busy banging on about bright colour - yet suddenly it's looking attractive.

All this only dawned on me while making a panic raid on LK Bennett at the weekend. I've been invited to Royal Ascot on Thursday, but what to wear? I found nothing right in Harrods and Harvey Nichols, but, with the Middletons flashing across my mind's eye, I dashed into LK Bennett in Knightsbridge at the last minute - saved! I found a bias-cut white pique below-the-knee skirt in the sale (there's a jacket and a dress, too). I also snagged a cream silk trench coat that's grown-up and elegant, though I've had to upgrade the naff buttons for mother of pearl.

I've never worn white before, except at my own wedding, or Victorian nightgowns when I was a junior hippy. I suppose it's a bit daft at my age to be following a fashion set by a young newly-wed, but, hey, if the Duchess of Cornwall can have a go, maybe the rest of us can, too.

What has to be worked out is how to wear it; there is a fine line to tread. Overstep it and you can end up looking either dreadfully mutton, or like a lady from the Bowling Club. What's needed are bags and shoes in sand or beige, and a neutral-coloured hat. But the Duchess has already shown us how to do that, hasn't she?